Ex-Benfica players start 2026 on a sour note at Sunderland – Man City | OneFootball

The start of 2026 in the Premier League was, to say the least, disappointing for the fans who attended the stadiums. In the match that opened the new year, Manchester City, featuring former stars from Benfica, could not go beyond a goalless draw in their visit to Sunderland.

On Pep Guardiola's team, Bernardo Silva — who will not return to Benfica — and Rúben Dias were the Catalan coach's choices. The final score (0-0) reflected the start of the competition in 2026. Besides the citizens, the matches between Crystal Palace-Fulham, Liverpool-Leeds, and Brentford-Tottenham also ended in draws.

Pep Guardiola's team started stronger and even celebrated a goal by Bernardo Silva in the early minutes of the match; however, the Portuguese midfielder was caught offside by a heel and saw his goal disallowed. Still in the first 45 minutes, Brian Brobbey beat Rúben Dias, but Gianluigi Donnarumma prevented the Dutchman from opening the score.

After this scare from Sunderland, the match was one-sided, with the citizens pressing hard against the black cats' defense; however, the lack of efficiency and the constant interventions of Sunderland's goalkeeper kept the score at zero until the final whistle.

Thus, Manchester City draws in the first game of the year. After 19 matches played, the English club has only accumulated one point (out of 41 possible) and has fallen behind in the title race, moving further away from Arsenal, which leads the Premier League with 45 points.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.